Paid quarantine at hotels in Darjeeling

The district administration has decided to start “paid quarantine” centres and has requisitioned a number of hotels in Darjeeling and Siliguri.

Ponnambalam S, the district magistrate of Darjeeling, has confirmed the decision and said the hotels would charge nominal rates.

While 16 hotels from Darjeeling have been categorised in four groups, the details of the Siliguri hotels were not immediately available.

The category “A” hotels in Darjeeling are Mayfair Resort, Sinclairs, Sterling Resort and Pine Tree. Those wanting to quarantine themselves in these hotels will have to pay Rs 2,000 for single occupancy and Rs 2,500 for double occupancy per night.

The rates for Categories B, C and D single occupancy are Rs 1,500, Rs 1,200 and Rs 800 per night, respectively.

Anit Thapa, the chairman of the board of administrators of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), has appealed to hoteliers to look into the possibility of offering their resorts as quarantine centres.

Following Thapa’s call, two hotels in Darjeeling — Sanderling and Rink Heritage — have offered their places for free stay a few days ago. The combined room dossier of these hotels is 78.

While the district administration has listed 16 hotels for paid quarantine, some of the hotel managements said they were finding it hard to convince their staff. “Some are not wanting to join work while others are saying that their families won’t permit them to come to the hotel. We are keeping our fingers crossed,” said a source in the hotel industry.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Darjeeling has written to the authorities stating that they are willing to provide the infrastructure at 10 schools in the hills for quarantine.

Stephen Lepcha, the Bishop of the Darjeeling Diocese, said Thapa had approached him with the request.

Bishop Stephen has, however, made a personal request “to spare all our boarding institutions, since the parents and teachers have expressed concerns on the safety of their wards”.

More than 12,000 people from the GTA had expressed their desire to return to the hills in an online application.

Non-essential shops in Darjeeling downed their shutters on Saturday after opening for a day, following a request from Anit Thapa.

B.M. Garg, the president of the Darjeeling Chamber of Commerce, said their organisation had taken the decision following Thapa’s call.

Darjeeling town does not have any containment zones and as per government norms there are many relaxations. “We came across GTA chairman Anit Thapa’s video appeal and I also spoke to him personally. We have decided not to open non-essential shops for some time,” said Garg.

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